Round 1 of the ATP Tokyo Open continues on Day 2, and brings in top contenders like Casper Ruud and Nick Kyrgios. But the draw is a strange combination of some decent, regular matchups with some truly sub-ATP level matchups. This could mean an uneventful tournament or it could mean devastating upsets in the next couple rounds. Could top seed Ruud get upset badly two tournaments in a row? Can the Japanese crowd stir one of their countrymen to make a deep run on home soil? We make our predictions below, including Alex de Minaur vs Soonwoo Kwon.
ATP Tokyo Day 3 Predictions Including Nick Kyrgios vs Chun-Hsin Tseng
Alex de Minaur vs Soonwoo Kwon
Head-to-head: de Minaur 1-0
Kwon has struggled this season, although he is on his preferred surface now. But hard court is also the domain of Alex de Minaur, and the Aussie has been excellent this year, compiling 40 wins and a title. De Minaur has also been playing well recently while Kwon has not, though the Korean has had some tough draws. He’s faced Felix Auger-Aliassime, Andrey Rublev, and Carlos Alcaraz in the first two rounds of a few recent tournaments. But de Minaur can hardly been considered a step down, as he has more career hard court titles than Alcaraz and Felix combined. The Aussie should move on comfortably.
Prediction: de Minaur in 2
Ramkumar Ramanathan vs Rio Noguchi
Head-to-head: first meeting
Both of these players are ITF-level. Noguchi started the year poorly in attempts on the Challenger tour, and switched back to ITF, where he dominated. Ramanathan has stuck it out on the Challenger Tour, but without much success. However, at the lower levels, Ramanthan has much better career statistics on hard courts, and appears to be able to hit a higher level than Noguchi. The Indian made it past Elias Ymer in qualification here in Tokyo, and beat both Stefan Kozlov and Jack Draper in qualifying back in July. The Japanese hasn’t shown anything like that yet, so Ramanathan has to be favored.
Prediction: Ramanathan in 3
Casper Ruud vs Jaume Munar
Head-to-head: Ruud 2-0
This one is straightforward. Ruud is by far the better player, and even more so on hard courts, where he outclasses the clay-preferring Spaniard by 27% in win percentage. Ruud should also be motivated to bounce back from a poor showing in Seoul, where he was knocked out in just his second match by Yoshihito Nishioka, after making the finals of the US Open. Munar hasn’t had a very good season overall, and has struggled of late, and doesn’t seem to have the extra gear that Nishioka can sometimes access.
Prediction: Ruud in 2
Nick Kyrgios vs Chun-Hsin Tseng
Head-to-head: First meeting
Tseng is a rising player, but Kyrgios is very tough when he’s motivated, and he seems to still be in good spirits as the season comes to a close. Tseng has also struggled heavily this last month, and 2022 Nick Kyrgios is not the person you want to see in order to stop a skid. Combine that with Tseng’s lack of experience as a 21 year-old, in light of Kyrgios’ creativity and diversity of shotmaking, and this looks like it should be a quick one for the Aussie.
Prediction: Kyrgios in 2
Main Photo from Getty.
